Ken Russell

Born Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell on July 3, 1927 in Southampton, Hampshire, U.K., he was the son of Ethel and Henry Russell. Russell's father, a shoe store owner, was reportedly an emotionally distant, angry and abusive man. As a result, the boy spent much of his early years ensconced in the safety of local movies houses with his mother, where works by directors such as Fritz Lang clearly influenced Russell's later cinematic inclinations. After receiving education in the nearby township of Walthamstow and at Pangbourne Nautical College, he briefly entered the Merchant Navy before being released due to a nervous breakdown. Following a period with the British Air Force, Russell began to pursu... Continue Bio >>